looking at a used 1230 hst

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

Anything I should know about this series? they look good on paper, but am not familiar with the model. How's it going to do with a 5' rotary cutter on rolling terrain? I found a good deal on one semi-local, and will be going to look at it next week, so am curious about other folks' impressions/opinions. Thanks!

 

[WilliamBos]

Here is some info for you.

TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 1230 tractor information

Buy the sounds of it, it is the older, slightly bigger brother to our 1523, which after 125 hours has been excellent. Dealer told us that ours will handle a 4' rotary cutter, and it is 18HP @ PTO.


I hope other 1200 series owners chime in here.

 

[Bever22]

I would also say a 4' is plenty, 5' might be a tad too big. I had a 4' on my 2310 and it worked great.

 

[IMCA38]

I have a MF 1225 which I discover is a little bit newer than the 1230 and about 2hp less. I pull a 5' RFM and a 5' bush hog with mine and it does an adequate job. One thing with the bush hog is that I don't worry about breaking anything as the tractor certainly isn't going to overpower anything! I did notice that the 1230 supposedly weighs about 375# more than my 1225. You will appreciate the extra weight and may wish it was even more. I have a hard time getting traction moving snow even with the weight of the FEL and all four tires loaded. I bought mine used about five years ago with approximately 250 hours on it and have been happy with it overall. I now have almost 800 hours. If you have any questions- PM me.
Todd

 

[WilliamBos]

I have a MF 1225 which I discover is a little bit newer than the 1230 and about 2hp less. I pull a 5' RFM and a 5' bush hog with mine and it does an adequate job. One thing with the bush hog is that I don't worry about breaking anything as the tractor certainly isn't going to overpower anything! I did notice that the 1230 supposedly weighs about 375# more than my 1225. You will appreciate the extra weight and may wish it was even more. I have a hard time getting traction moving snow even with the weight of the FEL and all four tires loaded. I bought mine used about five years ago with approximately 250 hours on it and have been happy with it overall. I now have almost 800 hours. If you have any questions- PM me.
Todd

So how aderquate of a job does it do?? Our dealer told us that our 1523 will handle a 4', so how well will it handle a 5'??

 

[Bever22]

I think with a 5' if you got into the thick brush & grass it would bog it down.

 

[WilliamBos]

I think with a 5' if you got into the thick brush & grass it would bog it down.

Thanks. Will stay with a 4' then.

 

[IMCA38]

I use the bush hog on an area of probably a little under an acre. I would call the stuff there brome grass. I'm not very good about keeping it mowed, and it sometimes gets to be about 3' tall. I go through it ok, but I have to take it a little slow, which is ok since I have some massive holes out there. Those aren't much fun to hit at high speed!.